Family and Parenting: Information For Families

Did you know that the average child eats less than 4 servings of fruit in an entire week? The daily recommendations for fruit alone are 2 full cups, while vegetables consumption is set at 2.5 cups. We are living in the age of “quickness’. Everything has to fast, in a hurry, and now, now, now! How can we ever grow up and be healthy if, as children, we aren’t eating the necessities of life?

Children today are just as busy and stressed as their parents. With all of the appointments, soccer games, Girl Scout meetings, gymnastics tournaments, karate classes, and never ending doses of get-up-and-go how are our children suppose to value their health as much as they value dance lessons? We are the leaders who are sending the next generation onto the future. We must value that as our parents did. Nights at the dinner table are slowly ending and turning into nights around the coffee table and in front of the television. How can we take the health of our children and put it in a place that stands above all of those other appointments and meetings?

No matter how busy life can get we cannot sacrifice the livelihood of our kids for the entertainment value of life. Without the proper nutrition and healthy foods those soccer games and gymnastic tournaments are only going to cause them health problems. It is time to step up to the plate and demand better health for your kids.

Sit down with your children one night and grab a pen and paper. Discuss the issue of health with them and invite them to offer ideas for creating healthier snacks ad meals. Ask them suggestions and meal ideas that they would enjoy eating, and share ideas back and forth. You may be surprised at the amount of enthusiasm that you receive from your kids. The general idea is that once your kids get the chance to help in the kitchen that it can turn into a tradition of family time and helping hands. Create a schedule of three to four nights a week where you will have the children either do the prep-work for the meals, or select one night of the week when the kids will actually make the entire meal (if their age permits) with only minimal help, and of course, supervision. You can turn healthy meals into a fun way to bring the family closer together. Come to a decision based on these ideas and declare war on the junk food days. Declare war on eating dinner with television-zombies and help your family become closer by simply eating healthier. Jump in head-first and you’ll see some pretty amazing results begin to flourish.